AvalonBay Spends $63M on N.J. Multi-Family Complex

By Nicholas Ziegler, News Editor

After a $63 million purchase, AvalonBay Communities Inc. is the proud owner of Windsor at Crystal Ridge, a 334-unit, Class A multi-family complex in central New Jersey. AvalonBay purchased the 15 three-story buildings from GID Investment Advisors L.L.C. in a transaction facilitated by Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P.

“This was a rare opportunity to purchase a newer class A multi-housing complex in affluent Somerset County, which has a scarcity of Class A product and no construction pipeline for any competing properties to be built in the near future,” Jose Cruz, senior managing director with HFF, said.

Cruz’s sentiments are borne out by outside research. A report by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. noted that “rising blue-collar employment in Central Jersey, combined with relocations to Northern New Jersey by residents priced out of Manhattan, will reduce vacancy to the lowest level in five years.” The report goes on to speculate that vacancy will drop to pre-recession levels, driven by the trade, transportation and utility industries that are expected to generate more than 2,000 jobs in 2012.

Windsor at Crystal Ridge is located on 25 acres in Watchung and North Plainfield. The units average 1,016 square feet each, and the entire development is 98 percent leased.

AvalonBay owns, or holds interest in, approximately 200 apartment communities nationwide, encompassing more than 50,000 housing units. GID controls a real estate portfolio consisting of 109 properties in 19 states, and has more than 12 million square feet of properties in its development pipeline.

“GID took advantage of a fluid multi-family market in central New Jersey, and Avalon obtained a good complex with rental upside,” HFF senior managing director Andrew Scandalios said.